The Science, Politics, and Ontology of Life-Philosophy

by Scott M. Campbell (Editor), Paul W. Bruno (Editor)

Overview

Life-philosophy, central to nineteenth-century philosophical thought, is concerned with the meaning, value and purpose of life. This much-needed study returns to the central philosophical questions of Lebensphilosophie and reveals the ascendency of 'life' in contemporary philosophical thinking.

Scholars from the disciplines of political theory, aesthetics, bioethics and ontology examine how the notion of life has made its way into contemporary philosophical discussions. They explore three main themes: the shift toward biological and technological views of life; the political implications of our conceptions of life; and the re-emergence of the idea of life in recent philosophical discussions about, for example, care of the self, scepticism, tragedy, desire, the emotions, and history.

Anticipating new directions of philosophical thinking, this study restores a vital school of thought to crucial considerations about the dangers of contemporary politics and the threat of new technologies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472591586
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/20/2014
Series:	Bloomsbury Studies in Philosophy
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Scott M. Campbell is Professor of Philosophy at Nazareth College, Rochester, New York, USA.

Paul W. Bruno is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Framingham State University, Massachusetts, USA.

Table of Contents

Notes of Contributors
Acknowledgements
Editors' Introduction Scott M. Campbell and Paul W. Bruno
Part I: Life-Contexts in Dilthey, Nietzsche, and Bergson
1. Dilthey as a Philosopher of Life Rudolf A. Makkreel
2. Biological and Historical Life: Heidegger between Levinas and Dilthey Eric Nelson
3. Your Money or Your Life: Using Nietzsche's Critique of Mechanism and Platonism to Defend the Biosphere Ronnie Hawkins
4. The Comprehensive Meaning of Life in Bergson Florence Caeymaex
Part II: Converging Technologies
5. Information, Self-Reference, and the Magical Realism of "Life" H. Peter Steeves
6. The Artificialization of Life: Designing Self-Organization Jean-Pierre Dupuy
7. eLife: From Biology to Technology and Back Again Jos de Mul
8. Philosophy of Life in the Age of Information: Seinsgeschichte and the Task of "An Ontology of Ourselves" Charles Bonner
Part III: Life, Power, Politics
9. "Without Inside or Outside": Nietzsche, Pluralism and the Problem of the Unity of Experience Michael J. O'Neill
10. Anachronism and Powerlessness: An Essay on Postmodernism Leonard Lawlor
11. Taking Hold of Life: Liberal Eugenics, Autonomy, and Biopower Serena Parekh
Part IV: Philosophies of Life
12. The Care of the Self and The Gift of Death: Foucault and Derrida on Learning How to Live Edward McGushin
13. The Tragic Sense of Life in Heidegger's Readings of Antigone Scott M. Campbell
14. Living the Pyrrhonian Way Stephen Clark
15. Intuition as the Business of Philosophy: Wittgenstein and Philosophy's Turban to Life Neil Turbanbull
16. On Life and Desire: Kant, Lewontin, and Girard Paul Bruno
17. The Wisdom of Emotions Jason Howard
18. History in the Service of Life: Nietzsche's Genealogy Allison Merrick
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The editors have put together a highly stimulating collection. There a number of strong essays, and the book will appeal to those working across the disciplines in philosophy, political theory, sociology, and cultural studies and with an interest in the notion of 'life', especially as it is now being played out in contemporary intellectual discourses. The editors are correct in their belief that the notion of life needs to address and provoke thought in the domains of science, politics, and ontology." --Keith Ansell-Pearson, University of Warwick, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

From the Publisher

The editors have put together a highly stimulating collection. There a number of strong essays, and the book will appeal to those working across the disciplines in philosophy, political theory, sociology, and cultural studies and with an interest in the notion of 'life', especially as it is now being played out in contemporary intellectual discourses. The editors are correct in their belief that the notion of life needs to address and provoke thought in the domains of science, politics, and ontology.

Keith Ansell-Pearson